There may not be a farm yet, but there's a farm girl learning the ropes of homesteading and sustainable living all in preparation for the blissful day when she can use them on her own land. Come learn with me, and by all means, teach me what you know!

Monday, October 1, 2007

Oh Tomatoes!

The First Batch of Canned Tomato Juice!

Ididn't grow any tomatoes this year, and my mom only put up a few plants - so what's a gal to do when she's hoping to try her hands at a bit of canning? She gets lucky, she does. Lucky to have a mom, who has a friend, who has tomatoes - lots and up for grabs. (And lucky this friend is also a very kind lady!) So out my mom, my little boy, and myself went to the friends to pick tomatoes on a rather blustery day. The wind was whipping maliciously and chilled us to our bones, but the promise of home-grown tomatoes through the winter months kept our fingers picking.

The Help (He Contributed the Green Ones)

The Fruits of Our Labors

This child-hood friend of my mother's has a marvelous, well-kept garden and the tomatoes were beautiful! We came home with a good amount and went to work canning the next day. On the menu were tomato juice and a basic tomato sauce. Out of a steamy dishwasher, I pulled out hot glass jars and placed them on a flower print cloth laid out on the counter. The light from the window shone through the clear glass creating a cathedral affect. Meanwhile, simmering in a large silver pot were chopped up tomatoes, releasing their juices. In an even bigger silver pot, water was coming to a furious boil waiting to receive sealed jars filled with the red elixir. The kitchen smelled deliciously fresh and wonderful. And oh when we roasted some tomatoes in the oven - sweet, warm goodness.

Canning Jars Lined in a Row

Simmer, Simmer

All the while I felt this energy, knowing I was doing something good for the environment, my community, and my family. I felt a belonging to the natural rhythms of the world and to generations of people before me who took the bounties of their harvest and preserved them in clear glass jars set upon wooden shelves to sustain themselves through winter. My mom's kitchen turned into a gathering place for learning as she passed down the wisdom gained from her mom onto me - wisdom that goes back through the ages.

7 comments:

Wow, I'm impressed. I didn't dare do tomatoe juice, I heard it's hard to keep. So we just do a quick saute of tomatoes and I freeze them in gallon frezzer bags, which I take out through the winter and use for sauces and soups, etc. I do more freezing like that since it's so easy. I hope, I KNOW you will get your farm some day. Dreams come true, I'm proof of it.

I recall my stepmom coating green tomatoes in flour, or something, and frying them up. They were really tasty. I've tried the big batch thing but always get overwhelmed. Now I try to get different varieties thoughout as much of the year as possible, based on the growing season. Enjoy early stuff early, then once that season is over just look forward to it coming again next year, and then whatever is coming up next.

One cool thing. Those plastic bags that hold water that you place around tomato plants in the early spring really work. You can start getting ripe tomatoes in June using those (in Boise).

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OK, you got me...there is no farm, but one day (please let it be sooner than much, much later!) there will be. For now, we're fixing up this house and trying to get it sold. After that? Well, maybe we'll be able to purchase some land, but most likely, we'll buy another house to fix up and sell. Then...then we just might be able to afford some land. And yet, it's possible that we'll have to buy and fix up still another house. But one day...Meadowlark Farms will be our home and the Western Meadowlark will greet us with its beautiful song...Until that blissful day...I'm going to prepare myself with all I can as far as homesteading and living greener, and believe me - I have LOTS to learn. Maybe you already have a farm, long for a farm like myself, or just like to read about them. Either way, you might learn a little from me (or just laugh at my beginner idiocy) and I sure could learn a lot from you! So join me as I fumble (but triumphantly succeed - hopefully) through this life changing (and soul changing) adventure.

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